Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs up to a more diverse General Assembly sworn into office for a two-year term on Wednesday. Also, 33 new Democrats and eight new Republicans make up one of the largest freshmen class of legislators. Now 16 percent of the Legislature is non-white, which is getting closer to the 20 percent of state residents who are non-white, and many more women will be representing constituents in Hartford — eight more than the last session. Now they all have to get down to the hard work of crafting legislation and balancing the state budget fairly.
Thumbs up to this milestone: The U.S. cancer death rate has been declining for at least 25 years now. From 1991 through 2016, the rate dropped by 27 percent, the American Cancer Society reported last week. Lower smoking rates, early detection and treatment are contributing factors. The nation’s increasing obesity epidemic, however, is linked to an increase in liver cancers since the 1970s and an economic gap is growing with people in poor counties more likely to have higher death rates than those in more affluent areas.
Thumbs down to Connecticut ranking 31st nationwide in its care of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as noted in the Case for Inclusion report by two nonprofits released last week. The rankings are based on five key areas: promoting independence, promoting productivity, keeping families together, serving those in need, and tracking health, safety and quality of life. The low mark in promoting independence may be attributed, in part, to the high percentage of people living in state-run institutions, such as Southbury Training School, said state Department of Developmental Services Commissioner Jordan Scheff. The state takes the report seriously, he said, and two new initiatives under way should improve Connecticut’s ranking — and services — in the future.
Thumbs up to the return of the eastern small-footed bat, which has been missing from the state since the 1940s. Though wildlife conservationists had suspected the smallest bat species in the eastern United States had returned, confirmation came in an unlikely way — a newborn bat, weighing about as much as three paper clips, was found clinging to a basement window screen. It was nursed to health and now is fully grown. Bat colonies have been decimated by the white nose syndrome, so the return of the small bats is encouraging. Plus, they are natural mosquito-control squads.
Thumbs up to the Norwalk Common Council for voting unanimously last week to pass an ordinance banning plastic carryout bags from stores and restaurants, effective July 8. The move had been championed by conservation groups as a way to help the environment, though some had worried a ban would be detrimental to poor people and businesses. Nearly 20 speakers urged the council to prohibit plastic bags, as does Stamford, Greenwich and Weston. Norwalk uses an estimated 30 million plastic bags a year, according to Skip the Plastic, and more than 100,000 end up in Long Island Sound, where they take hundreds of years to biodegrade.